An iconic restaurant on the Boston waterfront will soon close its doors because of construction in the area.

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Anthony's Pier 4, located at 140 Northern Ave. in South Boston, will be shut down this August. While it's a decision that may disappoint its longtime customers, who will miss its white tablecloths, dark wooden chairs and elegant wait staff, the family that owns it sees it as part of what was always a long-term plan.

When the late Anthony Athanas opened the restaurant in 1963, he had always envisioned developing the land, which was nothing but broken-down piers and warehouses.

"No one wanted anything to do with it," said his son, Michael Athanas. "Now look around."

Since then, the waterfront has turned into a popular and modernized area of the city of Boston, and the Athanas believe their time has come to leave.

Anthony Athanas, who died eight years ago, bought the land so that he could develop it. His sons, , Anthony Jr., Michael, Robert and Paul, are happy to continue their father's legacy and see the property continue to evolve.

"We'd stay open another 50 years if we had decided to develop the property," Michael Athanas said.

Soon, a 21-story apartment building, an office tower, condominiums, and a new hotel will line the Northern Avenue waterfront.

During its first years, Anthony's Pier 4 was one of a handful of high-end restaurants in the city, its only competitors being Locke-Ober and the Ritz Carlton.

"When Anthony's Pier 4 first opened in '63, it right away became the busiest restaurant in the U.S. and it continued like that for probably 20-25 years," said Michael Athanas.

Anthony Athanas, who migrated to the U.S. from Albania with his parents in 1915, is referred to as a "pioneer," having opened very popular restaurants in Lynn, Swampscott and Yarmouth Port beginning in 1937, until he was encouraged by the success of his various establishments to open his South Boston phenomenon in 1963.

With new restaurants and hotels dotting the streets along the waterfront, Anthony's is now essentially hidden behind scaffolds and heavy equipment.

"We just can't stay open with all of the construction," said Michael Athanas. "It's become too much."

Michael Athanas said the deal to sell the property has been in the works for 12 to 14 years.

"Finally they started to build," he said. "If it weren’t for the economy in 2008, they would have started building earlier. We had more years here than we were supposed to."

As for business, Michael Athanas said the restaurant is doing just fine.

"Because of the four hotels around here, business has actually increased over the last few years," he said. "I mean, look, we just opened for the day and we already have tables filling up."

Anthony's Pier 4 has also been a hotspot for many celebrities, politicians and public figures from the beginning.

Photographs of celebrities who have visited the restaurant line the walls at the entrance. Everyone from Liza Minnelli, Joe DiMaggio, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra to Richard Nixon, has been to Anthony's.

Athanas notes that Julia Child, a former regular customer, deemed Anthony's her favorite restaurant in the city.

"The celebrities I've met, they're all wonderful people," said Michael Athanas. "But the nicest ones were Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn -- such nice, good people."

Athanas said the most recent celebrity to stop by the restaurant for a meal was Ben Affleck.

One of Anthony's Pier 4's biggest fans was Elizabeth Taylor.

"She came here a lot, and what she really loved were the chairs, so my father said, 'I'll send you some,'" said Michael Athanas.

Taylor told Anthony Athanas she wanted 12 of the most worn-in chairs from the dining room sent to her home in Switzerland.

After she divorced Richard Burton and lost the chairs, Taylor asked if they would once again send her chairs from the dining room. Anthony Athanas sent them to her, and then she was married again, this time to Senator John Warner.

Taylor and Warner divorced in 1982, and after their split, Warner visited the restaurant and told Anthony Athanas that the chairs were divided in half. Taylor got six and Warner got six. The Athanas brothers found the story comical.

"In a national television interview, she could be seen sitting in one of our chairs," said Athanas. "So, when Elizabeth Taylor died (in 2011) some people would come to the restaurant just to sit in the chairs."

Michael Athanas said they are considering selling the chairs and donating the money to charity.

Longtime customers have been stopping by more regularly to spend time with the staff, take home a souvenir or enjoy one of their favorite meals.

"There are people that have been coming here every year for their anniversaries," said Michael Athanas. "Just recently, a couple came in to celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary. They came here with their parents and now they bring their children. There is a sense of tradition that will be lost for those people."